A Different Choice Part 2
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Part 2 of my AU where Peter becomes a thief instead of a superhero. Heather knows Peter is Spider-Man and is okay with it, but with people gunning for him will Peter take advantage of Heather's own desire to have powers like his and change his identity? Merry Christmas.


Her bedroom window was open, and she had had been sitting in the dark, her eyes fixed firmly on the same spot where her boyfriend had left clad in his black costume, leaving her behind with that feeling of jealousy. Why did she feel like this? She was jealous of Peter Parker, and she was also afraid for him and his wellbeing at the same time. Yeah, he had cool spider powers and was smart enough to make those webshooting wrist bracelets and stay one or more steps ahead of the police so he wouldn't get caught, and while she didn't envy the moral dilemma he'd found himself in and had only become a burglar out of pure necessity to help his aunt May when she was in hospital, and the bills had mounted up. It didn't help matters Luigi had fired them both, though really what did the disgusting little man expect with his little scheme?

Heather grimaced as she remembered that dump of a restaurant, the number of times someone groped her and Luigi leered at her, then she just dropped it out of her mind and focused on Peter. She loved him and not just because he was Spider-Man. She loved him for who he was which was more important. Heather remembered the story he'd told her of how he'd gotten his powers, how he had tried to make money to help his family with their meagre income by becoming an entertainer before a nastily written editorial by a newspaperman had closed that down before Peter, in a show of his newfound arrogance had allowed a crook to escape because he felt like it wasn't his problem and his uncle paid the price for it. Heather still felt sad for what Peter had gone through, and the realisation every action had a consequence. For a year he had avoided his powers and what had happened even if the miseries of everyday life reminded him of it before Luigi had pushed him so far, and had simply become what he was now simply to help those he loved so they didn't starve, a completely different stance from the so called heroes. Another grimace appeared on her face as she thought about how a few costumed vigilantes had tried to attack Peter.

They weren't superpowered, they were just a bunch of normal human beings who felt dressing up in stupid tights was going to earn them some street cred. They were mostly kids who were geeks like the stupid jocks who bullied Peter for being, but at least Peter lived in the real world. These kids had just thought some sparkly costume would make them just like Captain America, complete with super strength and agility or something along those lines. They weren't any match for Spider-Man of course. Peter had told her about what they'd tried to do, how they'd caught him leaving a small jewelry store and they'd surrounded him, and used old police slang to try and make him surrender, and all he'd done to them was simply webbing them up and left them hanging screaming from a lamp post. Heather wasn't sure whether or not to feel sorry for them or just laugh at them for thinking they could take someone way out of their league. She opted to just keep quiet. But Heather was jealous of her boyfriend being a burglar and getting so much for them to live on along with their salary for their cleaning work. Heather took a look at her watch, using the moonlight to see the dial. Peter would hopefully be back in an hour or two. He had spent weeks coming up with new plans for a new series of burglaries after a 3 month break to keep the police from guessing where he would strike next, and with her help he'd made a fairly straightforward plan. If the police caught him or learnt of her involvement, Heather knew she'd be arrested as an accomplice and accessory to burglary, but she didn't care. Like Peter her law abiding sense of morality had been colored, but for her helping her boyfriend even in the smallest ways meant her envy for Peter simply for being able to get out there meant every night she dreamt of being like him, a burglar with spider powers.

It was faintly unrealistic; she didn't know for sure if the lab where Peter had gotten his powers was still active, and even if it were could she get in and get herself bitten much the same way Peter himself had. Heather had often thought about simply telling Peter what she wanted, but she'd put it off. She knew he'd refuse, he hated the way it had turned out, but truthfully she imagined he was quite glad of how his life as Spider-Man had turned out. Okay, in an ideal world she knew Peter would probably still be entertaining, or see himself in that line of work. But seriously, how could anyone have imagined someone like Jameson sitting in the audience and writing an article like that? In another world she imagined him taking what Ben had said about responsibility and great power to heart, and being a superhero, always giving everything to an ungrateful city. Heather wasn't a selfish person, but she felt that the people of New York had enough superheroes, and besides the Fantastic Four had killed that idea in Peter's mind stone dead. Heather sighed and returned to her studies. She had finished all her schoolwork, now she was working on lockpicking. She had managed to get the materials off Peter, though she'd had to be careful because Peter went to a lot of trouble to hide his costume, web shooters and other tools hidden from May. Peter would know instantly if someone had broken into the place in his house where he hid his tools and books, but if she was really quick then she could manage it. Heather had been practicing with her recently purchased lockpicks for a short time, and while it had been hard at first it had merely gotten easier to pick her way through locks. It was easy when you got the hang of it, but she was a long way off to becoming a burglar.

* * *

"I can't believe you talked me into this," Peter said as he pulled Heather upwards after scaling the wall and spending a minute making sure it was extra safe for her. Heather held onto the strong sticky webbing, and when she was close enough her boyfriend reached down and gently pulled her to him.

"Whoa," Heather gasped, wobbling on the rooftop. "You'll get used to it, if you go through with this." Peter let go of her and turned away from her to open up the window. Heather folded her arms and watched him. Peter wasn't in a really good mood, and if she were honest with herself she could more or less see why. Heather had been steadily nagging Peter about wanting to be like him, going out like him and doing what he did, but he had refused wholeheartedly. He told her it was too dangerous. She had given him both barrels and more, telling him that it was dangerous anyway, for him. As Spider-Man he had already encountered several people who could and should be considered dangerous enemies - Vulture and Electro may be criminals themselves and were more than capable of killing Peter if they wanted to. Wouldn't it be better if she was around to help him? Peter hadn't thought so, but he had relented after being persuaded with a scorching kiss. That was Heather's secret weapon, well one of them.

"I thought you agreed with me," she replied when Peter's original statement sank into her mind. "I don't," he said shortly as he opened the window. He looked through the opening for a second, checking for hidden cameras and alarms. Heather watched as her boyfriend did this and stood very still, her heart pounding in her chest from nervous excitement. This building was home to the laboratory where Peter had come on that school field trip and was bitten by that spider. Despite Peter's clear reluctance to come back here, especially for this reason, he was sure this was the best place to start to give Heather her new powers. Heather knew he didn't really think she didn't deserve them, he was just worried about her wellbeing.

When he was sure the coast was clear, Peter lowered her down on another webline, and while she was being lowered to the ground floor of the laboratory she peered into the darkness. With the moonlight and the light pollution of the city, she could see enough of the machines and other pieces of equipment in this otherwise silent place. Well, it wasn't too silent, she corrected herself. There were animals in the room, she could hear the sounds of yowling cats and dogs barking, and a host of other sounds drowned out by the air conditioning. As she was lowered, Peter hissed, "Mask, mask!" It took a second or two for her to remember the mask Peter had given her, and she put it on so the cameras wouldn't pick out her face. Heather had the mask on her face, though it was awkward slipping it on while being lowered to the ground. It was one of Peter's spare masks, and she felt strange wearing it not because it was her boyfriend's mask, but because it was like a point of no return. No turning back for her. Peter landed next to her with a light thump. "I'd better check where we can find those spiders," he said, and headed off. Heather followed him. She had no idea what to look for and so she was thankful she had Peter with her. When she had first broached this idea to Peter, she had made it clear to him she needed him around to help her. He had been there, done that, knew what to expect. Plus, he had visited this lab after getting his powers. He'd told her about the visit, how curious he had been about the motives behind the scientists and their experiments. He had found a great deal of information about the experiments, and the animals they had started to use to perform them. Peter had told her a story that even had found hard to believe because it had never occurred to him it was that. Apparently the US government wanted to find a way to recreate Captain America and the supersoldier formula. Made sense. Captain America had been one of the biggest heroes of the war, and his exploits were fantastic enough, particularly his encounters with the Red Skull. From what Heather knew of the First Avenger, he had been a formerly physically weak and handicapped young kid. He had joined the army during WW2 and had been selected for a Top secret experiment where he was dunked into a chemical bath that magically augmented his body, giving him the physique and metabolism of a heathy athlete. But when a sudden German spy destroyed the lab and the scientist who'd come up with the formula had died, Captain America was the only example of a supersoldier, and when he was lost during the war he had taken the formula with him.

The government had wanted to recreate the formula for years. They had commissioned dozens of corporations, private scientists, and other research labs like this one with the task of recreating a supersoldier program. Unfortunately they hadn't had much success - the scientist who developed the original formula hadn't written anything down, it was all locked inside his head, so they had nothing to work with. They also couldn't find out which chemicals the scientist had worked with, he had been too smart for that. He had ordered a whole host of chemicals and any one of them, or none at all, could have been part of the combination. Okay, chemistry and wartime orders were out, so where did that leave scientists? Modern technology had the answer to their prayers, fields like biology with the dawning science of genetic engineering seemed to offer the US government the results they wanted to achieve. What did confuse Peter and Heather equally was why the lab wasn't secret and more secure, and why the general public were allowed to even come here for something as mundane as a school visit. Did they just do it as a clever way to fool people into thinking they were doing something else? That seemed like a probable scenario, but it was odd; she'd always through her country and the people who ran it were more paranoid than that. But hey, in this case it was a big help. Heather wondered just how many laboratories or something similar to them existed around the world - she wasn't going to insult her own intelligence by thinking naively that her own government had commissioned laboratories like this and no one had thought to do the same in other countries. Heather walked over to her boyfriend who was busy staring at the computer screen, the light softly reflecting off the lenses of his mask.

"They've done some work in this lab," he said, "they've stopped researching spiders altogether."

"Why?"

Peter turned his head to face her. "They have what they want," he said cryptically before returning his attention to the screen. "They have spider DNA, and that's enough, but they've discovered a new way to introduce genetic codes into the body."

"So I don't need to be bitten." Peter didn't answer. Instead he said to her, "The lab where this is done is through that door." The door in question was in a corner of the main laboratory - Heather actually wondered if this place was even the main lab, there were probably other labs where all the secret work was carried out. The door was easy enough to break into, and soon she and Peter were quietly heading for the place. Heather felt butterflies dance in her stomach as they approached the lab. Once inside the place Heather looked around in admiration; she might not be a scientist in the making, she was more artistic, but even she knew this place was run by people who didn't understand the meaning of the word expensive.

It was a long room with banks of computers that even now hummed with power. The computer screens were off, and there was no sign of anything that really told you it was a stereotypical lab; no bunsen burners, no residual smells of gas and other chemicals. The whole place was pristine clean aside from one of the desks, which looked like a mini rubbish dump with a collection of coke cans and other garbage. Clearly someone wasn't as hygienic as you'd imagine a scientist to be, but that didn't matter. Peter led her over to a piece of equipment that put in her mind the image of a telephone booth, but it wasn't built like one. It was much taller and reached the ceiling itself, and the glass panes were double glazed and much thicker than those you booths found on the streets.

There were other differences - this booth, if it could be called that but Heather didn't know the name it was actually called, was dominated by a high backed chair which had metallic manacles on the arms and for around the chest. There were three of these booths in the room, all of them exactly the same. Heather noticed Peter quietly heading towards a computer nearby. It took him moments to access what he wanted, but Heather watched him worriedly. When she had first told him what she wanted him to do he had refused, but something had changed and she wasn't sure what it was. She was suspicious, but hopefully what ever it was would be cleared up soon. As Peter worked two of the booths lit up. "Right," he said, "I said earlier in the other lab they'd stopped their research into spiders. It looks like they have realised spiders are just impractical, and while they've got the different DNA blends together they haven't worked out a proper way to make someone stick upside down from a ceiling-" "You can," Heather interrupted, the mask she wore hiding her confused expression.

"Yeah, but its not perfect. Anyway, they've simply turned their attention to other animals and insects," Peter said ignoring the interruption, making her even more suspicious. "There's a whole list of animals here, what would you like as an alternative to a spider?" Heather didn't move, her suspicions growing and then she took in the second booth. "Why is another booth on?" Peter didn't speak. Suddenly Heather understood. "You want to add something more to your powers already, something from a different animal?" Peter shook his head.

"No. I want to get rid of my spider powers, replace them with something different. I've been having so much trouble as Spider-Man recently that I want a change, and my troubles don't just extend to the police or so called heroes, but also with problems with my powers themselves." Heather didn't know any of this, but then they didn't really like to advertise their problems. Both she and Peter were alike in many ways - both were social wallflowers at school, both known but unseen at school, both virtually friendless, and both had had to deal with so much personal crap in their lives you could write two books about it. Heather had known Peter had come to resent being Spider-Man; you had to be blind not to see it, how he had become so totally frustrated whenever a webshooter broke or something happened to one at the worst moment. As a thief the costume itself was practical since it allowed Peter full use of his mobility and speed, but she knew he didn't like wearing it. She'd also had discussions with him debating whether or not a costume was actually necessary when he could simply wear something more normal. Heather had been getting the impression Peter was getting tired of the costume itself, not the role.

"What kind of problems have you been having?" she asked remembering what he'd just said. Peter sighed under his mask, giving the impression of a put upon male typically waiting for his girlfriend to do something before the whole world aged a decade rather than a minute. "I can cling to walls, and I have an idea of how it works, but it doesn't seem to work properly. I noticed it quite a bit when I first started out, but whenever it stops I'm clinging to the wall and then I begin to lose my grip." He looked down at his hands and the dark silver bracelets mounted on his wrists.

"There have been times where I have needed to use webbing to keep my grip. Listen, I'll explain more later, but right now can we please focus?" Heather bit back the anger she felt rising within when Peter used that tone, but she pushed it aside and studied the computer screen. There were quite a few animal species listed. Okay, lets see, she thought to herself as she studied the screen. Monkey? Hmm, there were advantages to that, she thought; I'd be light and agile, and my fingers will probably be more dexterous than they are right now. She took a look at the others, mentally keeping the monkey choice, and saw they hadn't just taken a basic monkey but had used the DNA of numerous species of primate and blended them together, so then the process would introduce the best qualities of all. Ape was also there, blending in Chimpanzee strength and speed with that of Gorilla and Orangutan. Again she pushed the choice aside like she had with the monkey, and continued to look. The problem was few of the animals were really interesting, though she could see why the government would select them - a human-wolf would have the inherent characteristics of a wolf, being able to pick up a scent - and a bear would be incredibly strong. She didn't want monkey DNA in her, nor did she want wolf DNA.

Heather had never liked dogs - she wasn't allergic, but there was something about them that always put her off. Her mother had never understood it, but she didn't like dogs either though her dislike was mostly because she was allergic to them. Besides if she did decide to mix dog or wolf DNA into her body, then what would it do to her mother? The idea of her mum hugging her only to break out sneezing every time was sure to attract a lot of questions she really did not want to think about, never mind answer. So that was out. Heather looked on, grateful for Peter's silence as she browsed the list until finally she found what she wanted - she had spent 2 minutes wondering how on Earth she was supposed to incorporate whale DNA when she found it - and showed Peter. But he had to be sure.

"Is this really the one?" he asked. Heather nodded, "Some of the other choices are too impractical. This one is perfect. I've always been a cat lover, so has my mum." She looked at the choice on the screen. It read one thing. Tiger. Who could say no to using that, Heather asked herself. Peter checked the tiger choice. "It looks like they've mixed it with the genetic traits of other kinds of cats," he commented, "they've included some traits from Leopard, Lynx, Jaguar, and Lion."

"What traits?"

"Strength, agility, bone and muscle density," Peter replied with a shrug, then started working on the computer. Heather watched him closely, watched him as he studied the layout and realised for herself just how difficult it was at first before Peter realised how it worked.

Finally after a few minutes of working, both booths glowed a green light - Heather took that to mean the program was accepted by the booth - and Peter confirmed her thoughts. "We can go in," he said, guiding her to one of the booths. Heather stepped inside the booth, her stomach full of butterflies. This was it, she thought to herself. The inside of the booth was bleak, it was just a chrome colored booth with tiny holes dotted in the walls, and once she was inside the booth the door closed, and from the window she could see the same thing had happened with the booth Peter had stepped in. Peter was calm, so Heather decided to follow his example, knowing he would never willingly walk them both into a dangerous situation. The light was muted so she didn't need to squint. Heather slipped off her mask. The lights changed color, becoming a green color as a gas started hissing into the booth. Slightly alarmed by the sight of the gas, Heather looked out of the window. Peter seemed to have guessed she would've been both surprised and terrified by the gas, and was silently urging her to calm down.

He also seemed to be breathing the gas deeply. Was the gas something to do with the process, she asked herself before deciding it was, and so she followed Peter's example. She breathed the gas coming into the booth slowly, letting it enter through her nose and into her lungs. That's when it began - she suddenly felt a terrible pain in her lungs, and it started radiating through her entire body. The pain was intolerable - it felt as though her entire body was on fire, and her limbs started throbbing, and then she started feeling cold like she was ill. Heather didn't know how long she was leaning against the wall of the narrow booth, but she wished she could just lie down, but the booth wasn't big enough for her to collapse to the ground. Was this how Peter had felt after he'd gained his powers originally from this fucking lab? The question she mentally asked herself despite the weird pain she was feeling and the feeling she was running a fever, and nursing something like pneumonia at the same time permeated her brain. Realising she didn't know what had happened to Peter, Heather gritted her teeth as she tried to muster some of her strength to reach the window. When she did and peered at the booth her boyfriend was in, she suddenly wished she had never suggested this and let Peter get the idea into his mind he could just change his own powers for something else.

Peter had taken off his mask like she had, so she could see what was happening to him. Her boyfriend was screaming in agony in his own booth, and he looked like she felt - his skin looked pale and translucent, and though she could see him screaming she couldn't completely see his face. But she didn't need to, because at that moment she started feeling like her normal self and she could see Peter start to stabilise like her. Heather noticed the gas in the booth started to dissipate and then disappear. The door to the booth opened before she could tell if her sudden and quick illness and recovery had done anything else. But once she was out of the booth, Heather staggered around for a bit before she regained some of her balance. After taking a few deep breaths of air - she wished it were fresh rather than something cycled into a building - Heather realised she felt fine.

She felt…..different after a moment of realisation. She felt….lighter, stronger, somehow. Heathers limbs seemed to throb with deep seeded power, and when she looked around the room she could pick out little details she hadn't managed to before. It was eerie. It was like seeing the world differently. Was this how cats saw their environments? Heather knew they had great vision, but she found it incredible that they could see so much with just a glance. The sudden sound of the booth Peter was in made her spin round, noting the loudness of the booth compared to how it sounded before when they'd both walked in, and realised her hearing had been augmented as well. Peter staggered out of his booth, looking less well than she herself felt, and like Heather had done seemed content to take a few deep breaths. "How are you feeling, I saw you screaming in that thing?" Heather asked him quietly.

Peter took a deep breath before he slipped his mask on again. Heather followed his example. "I felt like someone was using a blowtorch to burn my insides," he said breathlessly, his voice still hoarse from all his screaming. "I feel much better now, but I haven't felt any different since my body's still throbbing." "I've definitely felt a difference. When I looked around the room, I picked out things with my eyes I hadn't when we got in," Heather told him. She saw him look around the room, turning his head slowly. "You're right," he said slowly. "My vision is sharper, probably a little sharper than it was before."

"I also heard the sound the booth door made when it opened," she added, "it was like a totally different sound."

"We'll have plenty of time to find out what the difference is later," Peter said, "we have to get out of here now. I set up a time window of 3 hours in the cameras, but we shouldn't press our luck."

Getting out was just as easier as it was to get in - Peter had used his webshooter to fire a line to the ceiling, and they'd climbed up out of the window. But instead of letting Peter do all the work to get them home, and slow them down, Heather tried to test her new powers. As a kid she had been only marginally better than Peter in terms of speed and agility, but not enough to make a difference. But truthfully Heather had never really been interested in sports like the jocks at her school were, and she had never been interested in crappy cheerleading games. But she did regularly jog and go to the gym before she met Peter, though she'd found the moments she could exercise wane when she'd had to look after her mother.

Heather had originally intended to simply run like she was whenever she had the time to exercise, but she blinked in shock when she suddenly shot and bounded to the other side of the building and wasn't even breathless! Peter was just as fast as she was, but he took it all in stride. She knew he was more used to this than she herself was, but Heather was a fast learner. Give her time and she would get used to it just like she had gotten used to the notion Peter Parker was Spider-Man, was being the word now. Heather frowned underneath her mask as she followed Peter, deftly moving across the city. "It took a night for me to assimilate the spider bite," Peter commented as they changed their clothes. Their loved ones thought they were in the city acting like normal teenagers which was better than the truth of simply breaking into a genetic lab, but the real reasons were straight forward. Peter had told her he wasn't sure what kind of side effects the genetic splicing would have, so it was best not to simply creep into their respective homes. Not that he had bothered to tell Heather what his plans were until it was too late. Heather had tried to ask Peter why he'd wanted to do it since she felt there was a lot more to the original response than met the eye. After letting herself in she met her mother. Louise had been waiting for her to properly lock the door. Her mother was fantastic as a laid back parent who took things seriously when they needed to, but she was quite paranoid. Heather knew her mother trusted her, but she still felt very scared whenever the door was unlocked and she was out. She was frightened that she could lock her own daughter out, so she was still up. It was rare Heather went out so late as a result - that time when she had gone to visit Peter where she had learnt about his powers was one of the more recent episodes but there had been others she could have used as an example.

After getting into bed, Heather did a quick check on herself - she still felt odd, a combination of mildly nauseous and very strong. Lying on her back she let her body adjust and spent her time thinking about Peter and all the things they would soon be doing together in the near future. Okay, being a burglar with super cat powers hadn't been quite what Heather had thought would happen to her growing up, but she welcomed it. But she knew there would be consequences. Try as she might Heather went to sleep that night knowing something was going to happen.

* * *

Now Heather had noticed it she found it incredible that she hadn't seen it earlier. When Spider-Man had reappeared and begun his crime sprees he had always left evidence, but shortly after Heather had learnt Spider-Man and the young man she loved with her heart and soul she had started collecting the newspaper stories and became an avid follower to anything Spider-Man related, unbiased of course, and it because of those stories of how easily Peter had managed his heists and leaving just as easily that her desire to have powers like him had come from. But now she realised it she was kicking herself for not seeing it before. Spider-Man had started changing his tactics. Instead of just using his ordinary black costume he had used more baggier clothes to give him the appearance of a conventional burglar. He had stopped relying on his webshooters as well and leaving behind any telltale signs of his presence. It made sense. Ever since the first Spider-Slaying robots had appeared it was nearly impossible for Peter to do what he needed to do. Most burglaries rarely if ever caught so much attention, but Spider-Man did and all because of one man. J. Jonah Jameson. This was all his fault, Heather thought, that her boyfriend had found increasing amounts of danger out there. Peter may have had the edge against ordinary bounty hunters who had come to New York to hunt down a spider and squash it to death. Heather growled instinctively at the threat towards her mate - wait, mate? Where did that come from? But Heather shrugged, guessing it was because of the cat DNA now spliced into her genetic code that made her see Peter that way, but she refocused her mind on her musings. The bounty hunters had been more of a hindrance for Peter since few of them had had powers that exceeded the skills of a regular human. Jameson was strictly anti-superhuman if his articles were anything to go by but because of his view of Spider-Man he'd been willing to compromise, didn't mean it didn't make life difficult. Heather chuckled as she remembered the stance other newspapers and TV stations had taken against Jameson, saying the presence of bounty hunters was detrimental to the morale of the NYPD.

Jameson had used his media empire to great effect, even Heather had to hand him credit for that. Jameson had stirred the masses up well and good, and the public had lapped it all up like a baby suckling its mothers milk. Heather didn't like the comparison as soon as it settled into her brain, so she tried to settle for something a bit more appropriate. Ah, found one. Jameson was like a shepherd guiding a flock of sheep, in this case nearly everyone in New York city as well as the NYPD. Though the NYPD was only in it out of hurt pride for failing to capture Peter. The problem was they didn't realise and failed to see Peter was not stupid and although Heather loved Peter very much she knew he was a nerd but in a good way, she was a nerd herself and knew how painful it was to be bullied simply because her interests weren't like the norm in a school, and knew Peter spent a lot of time preparing himself for one of his burglaries. He didn't do things on a whim. He didn't waste his time and energy on something he didn't want, never mind need. Try as they might the NYPD couldn't monitor every place in the city where he could strike. But it was still a risk. That was one of the reasons why Peter had changed his approach and appearance, to hide his powers under a normal appearance. But the Spider Slayers hadn't been fooled.

Peter had told her the stories once she'd persuaded him to tell her about the slayers, her boyfriend suffered from the same disease every male suffered from and believed women couldn't take such brutal stories. While it was bothersome Heather didn't feel patronised by it since Peter never treated her like a china doll, that didn't mean it couldn't infuriate her though. Peter had described how the Spider-Slayers had become progressively more advanced, more sophisticated compared to the original robot. Heather shuddered, glad that machine which had changed her had not been programmed with spider DNA. She couldn't imagine herself facing off against one of those metal bastards and didn't want to even picture herself doing it.

What had made her realise that Spider-Man had not really worn his costume? Well, she was looking at one of the costumes. She knew he'd worn it because of the stretch marks, but it had been cut to pieces, the materials being used for other things. She'd found a few ordinary clothes in Peter's wardrobe that didn't see the light of day. Well he'd shown them to her. He was really serious about keeping a low profile. She couldn't blame her mate for that, and then anger surged through her. The terrifying thing to Heather was she didn't know why she kept referring to Peter in her mind as her mate. It sounded so…..primal. Almost archaic. But somehow it felt right to her to think that of him. Heather smiled as she thought about the reaction he'd give her if she called him that. She'd begun noticing her personality seeming to change, no not change. That was the wrong word to describe it. Shift was more the word. Heather had never really been an outgoing person. She didn't waste her time trying to be something she wasn't and move beyond her rather shy and sensitive persona and make friends with people she actually found repulsive. She and Peter had a great deal in common, but they had tried to make friends on many occasions. It wasn't their fault if people misinterpreted their attempts and their personalities for something different, but ever since that night Heather's personality had changed to one which was more aloof but now she was more aggressive, hardly surprising considering the type of animal she'd chosen to be spliced into her body. A perfect example of how aggressive her personality had become was when she'd been accosted by one of her oldest tormentors at school. Usually Heather would ignore the girl and carry on with her business, but the girl had simply never grown up and had continued taunting her about her mother and Peter. Bad move. The moment the stupid bitch had made those comments about her mother Heather had tried very hard to contain the urge to smash the girl's skull in. She lost the battle and threw the girl into a wall. Hard. It was a miracle Heather had managed to rein in the cat before she did any serious harm to the stupid cow. She wondered how Peter was doing.

* * *

Heather was barely panting as she and Peter stood in a gym using the weight machines. They had found an abandoned warehouse full of really old pieces of metal junk which looked heavy, but Peter had insisted they come to this gym simply because it was a good way for them both to see what they could do. The warehouse's contents might have looked heavy but it was in such a mess and there was no way of them knowing for sure how heavy some of it all was. Personally Heather believed her boyfriend didn't want to get her hands too mucky. But she had to admit the gym did give her a better idea about her new abilities. They had been on the treadmill for an hour, spent half an hour on different cardio machines which had never failed to reduce them to sweaty gasping wrecks. The light touch of sweat on their bodies and the light gasp of air were the only results. After growing bored of the cardio machines because the workouts proved they now had the stamina of a wild cat they'd moved onto the weight machines. After 20 minutes of it Heather was beginning to see the logic in coming here to the gym. Yeah it might be a little mundane and the chance of someone noting their performance was high, but the machines and equipment in the gym were specially designed for exercise and building up strength. After learning how to do them, both Peter and Heather began doing squats while holding a barbell at the back of their heads. A few weeks later Heather could see the workouts the pair of them did had done a lot of good for their physiques. And it wasn't just workouts at the gym; once they'd gotten an idea of their stamina they'd both cleaned up the warehouse of muck and spider webs - Peter even seeming a little too gleeful to get rid of them, which troubled Heather a little - and started using the place as a larger gym. Hell, they'd even started using a rail yard to test their strengths like Mr Incredible did in that superhero flick. They'd both been relatively skinny, but after the inoculation of cat DNA and the workouts had done a lot of good for them. Peter had always been fairly tall, but when he'd had the powers of a spider the DNA had given him the build of a swimmer. But those days were over - Peter and Heather now preferred a diet full of protein.

May had been surprised when Peter had begun to bulk up a little bit but there was really nothing she could say out of surprise. It wasn't a hideous development either. Peter was still a little thin in comparison to some of the other boys from her school, but that didn't mean he wasn't noticeable. His muscle mass certainly suited him. It was….sleeker and complimentary rather than ugly and misshapen. Heather had also changed. Her muscles were more toned but her more feminine cast meant she would be seen more as an athletic runner with a bit of bodybuilder thrown in for good measure. It was on a Saturday when they weren't at school/college or at work Heather decided to find out why Peter had removed the spider DNA he'd had in him since that fateful day 2 and a half years ago.

They were both eating chicken sandwiches just looking out onto the Hudson river. To onlookers they were a young couple spending time together, too bad their conversation was anything but. "Peter, why did you want your spider DNA taken from you?" Peter, who had been about to take a sip from his coffee, paused. "You know why," he said shortly as though it ended the subject, but Heather wasn't having it. "Peter, I know there's more to your decision than simply because you were tired of the webshooters and the spider slayers. Granted, that last one's a good excuse, but please. Tell me." Peter was silent for a few minutes before he nodded and sighed. He looked around the bay as though steeling himself.

"Do you remember when I told you that story of how I got my original powers, how I used them for showbiz, and how I didn't act to stop that burglar?" Heather nodded, somehow unsurprised by the mention of Ben Parker. "I was tired of Spider-Man. If it hadn't been for him, maybe Uncle Ben would still be alive. But its more than that - looking back I should have not gone out wearing that stupid costume. It's because of that Jameson was able to get away with sanctioning those bounty hunters and those fucking robots. I should have worn black clothes and thrown in a makeshift mask; ordinary criminals can do it, why couldn't I?"

"Hey, easy, calm down people might look," Heather said quickly when she saw just how agitated Peter was getting. He shrugged, giving the impression he didn't really care what people thought about his upset but he did as he was told. "When you came to me to say you wanted powers of your own, I began thinking about how I could remove my spider powers which weren't all that great - strength, speed and spider sense, okay I admit were cool and had their advantages, but the wall crawling sometimes failed and the less you said about my webshooters, the better." Peter shook his head and looked down at the ground, his food and coffee forgotten. "When I went with you to that lab, I didn't tell you what I was planning in case you tried to talk me out of it," he added, looking apologetically at her. Heather was surprised he would think that of her, and she was quick to reassure him.

"If you'd come out and simply said it, I wouldn't have had a problem with it, you should have trusted me." Peter's wince made her grimace at her mistake, but it was out. "Sorry, that came out wrong. But I think it's great - you seem so much happier than you did before."

"You're right," Peter said, smiling at her despite the clear hurt at her implication he didn't trust her. "I do feel happier." Heather leaned in and kissed him. Peter kissed back. Heather was just enjoying the kiss when she felt herself going into heat. She broke the kiss as she tried to get herself under control. Peter looked worried. "Peter, I think I'm going into heat," Heather gasped out and she inwardly kicked herself for her blunt comment. Peter looked like someone had planted bombs all around him and he didn't know of a way to escape.

* * *

Her mother being out was a welcome piece of knowledge to Heather as the pair of them entered the house. Heather called out for her mother and they sniffed the air for any signs of fresh scent from Louise, but there wasn't anything that wasn't a few hours old, well Peter did; Heather was trying hard to stop herself from simply raping him on the spot. Unbeknownst to Heather, her body was actually letting loose pheromones that any male cat could sniff and be aroused for, and if the two teenagers had bothered to notice the few male cats nearby they would have seen their interest in the couple, but they had closed the door before they could enter. Knowing Peter was following her up the stairs as she ran as fast as she could, though she didn't know what he was looking at, Heather ran into her bedroom. The best way to describe what happened next was assault. Peter had just entered the room, caught sight of a half naked Heather who'd already kicked off her shoes and her trousers and was just undoing her jacket and shirt when he came in. Heather threw herself at him, kissing him harshly and biting his lip eliciting a growl of arousal and pain from Peter. He wrapped his arms around her as they kissed, and she nipped his lips when she felt his growing bulge in his trousers. Desperately Heather unbelted Peter's trousers, and pushed them down. His erection sprang up. Peter groaned when she felt mischievous and started stroking him.

"You're big," she managed to get out between kisses. "Thanks," he said before he shoved her onto the bed and ripped off his shirt before taking hers off. Heather grinned and helped him take off her bra. After half an hour of sex, the two teenagers were naked and lying next to one another in the bed. Heather smiled as Peter lightly placed kisses down the side of her face, but it disappeared. She was thankful she had had the sense to make sure her panties were still on and that Peter, in the heat of it, didn't take them off. She chuckled at the disappointed pout on his face. "What?" Peter had heard her. "Oh, just the way you pouted when I refused you taking my knickers off," she smirked. Peter groaned, making her laugh. It was a good thing she had stopped him though the thought of him taking her virginity away was compelling, but she didn't know how the DNA modification had changed her reproduction organs. Would she be pregnant right away? She didn't know. While she was thrilled at the idea of having his kids and the desire was more primal, Heather knew she wasn't ready yet - in human terms - to be a mother any more than Peter was being a dad. Still at least they'd manage to pleasure themselves. Heather turned her head to find Peter looking at her. "I love you," he whispered to her. "I love you too," she smiled. "I didn't hurt you, did I? Heather chuckled at him, "Of course not. We're going to do this again, right?"

"Definitely," Peter nodded eagerly. Heather rolled her eyes.

* * *

A few weeks after their loving making session, Peter had started taking Heather with him on heists. The heists were fairly small, the couple were still adjusting to their new powers, and Peter was having to relearn how to use his body to commit the heists in the first place. He also had to learn how to work without webshooters when in the middle of something, and he'd made great headway before he and Heather set out. Heather herself began to improve herself. The only niggles came when some of the bounty hunters, frustrated by Spider-Man's disappearance, simply decided to find other superhuman criminals and take them in to collect some cash, uncaring if they were after Spider-Man or not. Unfortunately thinking they could take on a superhuman was one thing, actually doing it and succeeding was another matter. Jameson had not given up his crusade against Spider-Man and - rather truthfully and accurately - believed the new superhuman criminals his hired bounty hunters had encountered was Spider-Man and an accomplice. It wasn't fair - Peter had wanted to get away from Spider-Man, only for Jameson to out his new second chance as Spider-Man. Unfortunately for Jameson other newspapers were quick to refute it. They used digital calipers against the pictures taken of Peter and Heather, and claimed he couldn't be Spider-Man because it was known that that thief was more lightly built. The big problem was the Punisher, who had just come to New York. But he was probably going to go after criminals who dealt with murder and drugs, not thieves? Wasn't he?


End file.
